'A pool in the basement is a clear marker of wealth': how the super-rich are digging down

on 16 May 2018.

In London’s richest boroughs vast subterranean enclaves are being carved out over several floors to house cars, wine, saunas and private nightclubs. How did underground living – once associated with poverty and disease – become an investment scheme for the uber-wealthy?

With its eclectic fusion of Regency and mythological motifs, Havona House stands out amid the stucco-fronted Victorian townhouses in Notting Hill’s Pembridge Villas. The newly built mansion’s mock neoclassical columns and the limestone carvings of Greek deities on the facade reflect the roots of its owner, property investor Costas Diamantopoulos. Stepping inside the 8,600 sq ft (800 sq m) property, which is on the market for £25m, you are confronted by an array of opulent features, including a free-floating stone staircase, hand-blown glass pendants and marble en-suite bathrooms.

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